Ethnic Breakdown of Russia's Heads of Government

Ethnic makeup of Russian heads of Government

Jun 26, 2025

I am continuing a little series of Russia studies in which I look over certain statistical patterns in Russia’s history and society. In this episode I will cover Russia’s heads of government.

Petrine reforms have for the first time brought to Russia an equivalent of a Western styled Government. However, unlike Western systems led by a prime minister, the ministries remained directly subordinate to the Tsar until 1810, when a Chairman emerged as the de facto second-in-command of the government.

In this article I will look into the ethnic makeup of Russia’s Chairman’s of the State councils (1810-1905), followed by the Prime Ministers (1905-1917) and other subsequent titles of the Russian heads of government.

Committee of Ministers (1810–1905):

(Painting of Nikolay Rumyantsev)

Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev (1810-1812): Great Russian, Orthodox

Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (1812-1816): Great Russian, Orthodox

Pyotr Vasilyevich Lopukhin (1816-1827): Great Russian, Orthodox

Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey (1827-1834): Little Russian (Ukrainian), Orthodox

Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev (1834-1838): Great Russian, Orthodox

Illarion Vasilyevich Vasilchikov (1838-1847): Great Russian, Orthodox

Vasily Vasilyevich Levashov (1847-1848): Great Russian, Orthodox

Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshyov (1848-1856): Great Russian, Orthodox

Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov (1857-1861): Great Russian, Orthodox

Dmitry Nikolayevich Bludov (1861-1864): Great Russian, Orthodox

Pavel Pavlovich Gagarin (1864-1872): Great Russian, Orthodox

Pavel Nikolayevich Ignatyev (1872-1879): Great Russian, Orthodox

Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuyev (1879-1881): Great Russian, Orthodox

Mikhail Khristoforovich Reytern (1881-1886): Baltic German, Lutheran

Nikolay Khristianovich Bunge (1887-1895): German, Lutheran

Ivan Nikolayevich Durnovo (1895-1903): Great Russian, Orthodox

Sergei Yulyevich Witte (1903-1905): Half-Baltic German, Half-Great Russian, Orthodox

Summary:

Orthodox majority: 15 out of 17 Chairmen (88%) were Orthodox Christians.
13.5 out of 17 (79%) were ethnic Great Russians and 14.5 out of 17 were Russians (85%)
There were just two fully ethnic Germans and Lutherans who all came and left during Tsar Alexander III reign, known for his reactionary reforms.
Witte was a bridge figure: half Baltic German by blood, but fully Russian Orthodox and assimilated into the Russian ruling elite.
Overrepresentation factors: 9.06 for Germans, 1.79 for Great Russians, for Ukrainians 0.33.
Just over 36% of the Russian Empire’s population at 1897 did not have their ethnic group representing them as the head of government or 31% if we exclude the Byelorussians.

Prime Minister of the Russian Empire (1905–1917)

Right until 1905 the de-facto and de-jure government leads was the Czar, after 1905 it was the Prime Minister with whom the Czar was obliged to share power.

(Pictured is Pyotr Stolypin)

Sergei Yulyevich Witte (1905-1906): Half-Baltic German, Half-Great Russian, Orthodox

Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (1906-1906): Great Russian, Orthodox

Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin (1906-1911): Great Russian, Orthodox

Vladimir Nikolayevich Kokovtsov (1911-1914): Great Russian, Orthodox

Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (1914-1916): Great Russian, Orthodox

Boris Vladimirovich Shtyurmer (1916-1916): Half-German, Half-Great Russian, Orthodox

Alexander Fyodorovich Trepov (1916-1916): 3/4 Great Russian, a Quarter German, Orthodox

Nikolai Dmitriyevich Golitsyn (1917-1917): Great Russian, Orthodox

Summary:

All Russian Prime Ministers were Russian Orthodox
Three out of seven Russian Prime Ministers had some German admixture
All Russian Prime Ministers were at least half Great Russian
54% of the Russian Empire’s population belonged to ethnic groups that were not represented among Russia’s prime ministers.

Source

Premier of the Soviet Union:

Some Soviet Premiers were the de-facto rulers of the Soviet Union while some would be equivalent to America’s Vice Presidents.

(Above is Alexei Ivanovich, Rykov)

Vladimir Lenin (1917-1924): 1/4 Great Russian, 1/4 Kalmyk, 1/4 Jewish, 1/4 Swedish and German, Atheist

Alexey Rykov (1924-1929): Russian, Atheist

Vyacheslav Molotov (1930-1941): Russian, Atheist

Joseph Stalin (1941-1953): Georgian, (high possibility of some Ossetian ancestry), Atheist

Georgy Malenkov (1953-1955): Russian, Atheist

Nikolai Bulganin (1956-1958): Russian, Atheist

Nikita Khrushchev (1958-1964): Russian, Atheist

Alexei Kosygin (1964-1980): Russian, Atheist

Nikolai Tikhonov (1980-1985): Russian (possibly half Ukrainian), Atheist

Nikolai Ryzhkov (1985-1991): Russian, Atheist.

Valentin Pavlov (1991-1991): Russian

Ivan Silayev (1991-1991): Russian

Summary:

All Soviet Premiers were either Atheist or Secular.
Contrary to a popular myth, Nikita Khrushchev was not an ethnic Ukrainian
Jews did not dominate the Soviet Premiership
Despite Alexei Rykov's position as Premier, his influence was less significant than that of Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, or Leon Trotsky, a testament to the covert nature of much Soviet politics at the time (1920-1930s).
10 of the 12 Soviet Leaders were at least 50% ethnically Russian. In absolute numbers, Russian genes accounted for 85% of Soviet Premiers.
Georgian Rate of Overrepresentation: 5.93
Russian Rate of Overrepresentation: 1.67
Jewish Rate of Overrepresentation:: 1.19
46% of the Soviet’s population belonged to ethnic groups that were not represented among Soviet Premiers.
Source

Prime Ministers of Russia:

No introduction is needed. Below are two former Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, both of whom also served as Prime Ministers of Russia at different times.

Boris Yeltsin (1991-1992): Russian, Orthodox

Viktor Chernomyrdin (1992-1998): Russian, Atheist.

Sergey Kiriyenko (1998-1998): Half-Jewish, Half-Ukrainian, Atheist

Yevgeny Primakov (1998-1999): Jewish, Atheist.

Sergey Stepashin (1999-1999): Russian, Orthodox

Vladimir Putin (1999-2000): Russian, Orthodox

Mikhail Kasyanov (2000-2004): Russian, Secular

Mikhail Fradkov (2004-2007): Jewish, Atheist

Viktor Zubkov (2007-2008): Russian, Orthodox

Vladimir Putin (2008-2012): Russian, Orthodox

Dmitry Medvedev (2012-2020): Russian, Orthodox

Mikhail Mishustin (2020-onwards) Half-Jewish, Half-Russian, Orthodox

Summary:

63% of Russian Prime Ministers were fully ethnically Russian
Slavic genes accounted for 73% of Russia’s Prime Ministers
36% of Russian Prime Ministers had some Jewish ancestry
18% of the Russian population belonged to ethnic groups that were not represented among Prime Ministers
58% of Russia’s Prime Ministers were openly Christian Orthodox which is consistent with their share in the general population.
Russian Rate of underrepresentation: 0.79 (full Russian ancestry)
Jewish Rate of overrepresentation (partial Jewish ancestry): 72, 36 for full Jews.

Total Ethnic Breakdown:

Total Great Russian: 31.75 individuals or 75.6% of the total

Total German & Swedish: 3.75 individuals or 8% of the total

Total Jewish: 3.25 individuals or 7% of the total

Total (speculated) Ukrainian: 2 individuals or 4.35% of the total

Total Georgian: 1 individual or 2.17% of the total

Total Kalmyk: 0.25 individual or 0.54% of the total